Macron, Emmanuel (1977- )

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      Explosions Outside a France Synagogue Were a Terrorist Attack, Prosecutors Say

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      Politicians quickly condemned the attack, at a time when antisemitic incidents have been on the rise in France. A suspect has been arrested in the case.Two vehicles parked outside a synagogue exploded in a French town on Saturday in what prosecutors called an act of terrorism.The cars exploded outside the Ben Yacoov synagogue in La Grande Motte, a resort town on the southern coast of France. The synagogue’s doors were also set on fire, prosecutors said in a statement.Prosecutors are treating the attack as an attempted assassination by a terrorist organization intended to cause harm and destroy property, according to a statement from the antiterrorism unit in the prosecutor’s office.Gérald Darmanin, the French interior minister, announced on social media later Saturday that a suspect had been arrested in the case but did not provide further details.Five people, including the rabbi, were inside the synagogue at the time of the attack, around 8 a.m., as worshipers would have been making their way to the synagogue.No one was killed, but one police officer responding to the explosions was hurt when a gas bottle inside one of the vehicles exploded, the antiterrorism unit said in its statement.The attack is likely to heighten fears of growing antisemitism in France, which has the largest Jewish population in Western Europe. Attacks against Jewish people in France have increased in recent years, and the government said it had recorded more than 360 antisemitic episodes in the first three months of 2024. The Israel-Hamas war has further heightened tensions in a society increasingly divided by religion and ideology. President Emmanuel Macron vowed that the perpetrators would be tracked down, and that Jewish places of worship in France would be protected.“The fight against antisemitism is a constant battle,” Mr. Macron said, adding that it was a fight for “a united nation.”Officials in the municipality of Hérault, which includes La Grande Motte, said the city would be vigilant in protecting buildings associated with its Jewish community.The municipality also canceled a demonstration planned for Saturday in nearby Montpellier by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to mobilize economic and political pressure on Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.During France’s recent elections, the country’s left, particularly Jean-Luc Melénchon, the founder of France Unbowed, was accused of fanning antisemitism. After Saturday’s explosions, Mr. Melénchon described the attack as an “intolerable crime” and called on France to uphold principles of secularism. More

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      France explosions synagogue antisemitism

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      Politicians quickly condemned the attack, at a time when antisemitic incidents have been on the rise in France. Two vehicles parked outside a synagogue exploded in a French town on Saturday in what prosecutors called an act of terrorism.The cars exploded outside the Ben Yacoov synagogue in La Grande Motte, a resort town on the southern coast of France. The synagogue’s doors were also set on fire, prosecutors said in a statement. Five people, including the rabbi, were inside the synagogue at the time of the attack, around 8 a.m., as worshipers would have been making their way to the synagogue.No one was killed, but one police officer responding to the explosions was hurt when a gas bottle inside one of the vehicles exploded, according to a statement from the antiterrorism unit in the prosecutor’s office.Prosecutors are treating the attack as an attempted assassination by a terrorist organization intended to cause harm and destroy property, the antiterrorism unit said in its statement. No one had been arrested in the case as of Saturday afternoon. The attack is likely to heighten fears of growing antisemitism in France, which has the largest Jewish population in Western Europe. Attacks against Jewish people in France have increased in recent years, and the government said it had recorded more than 360 antisemitic episodes in the first three months of 2024. The Israel-Hamas war has further heightened tensions in a society increasingly divided by religion and ideology. President Emmanuel Macron vowed that the perpetrators would be tracked down, and that Jewish places of worship in France would be protected.“The fight against antisemitism is a constant battle,” Mr. Macron said, adding that it was a fight for “a united nation.”Officials in the municipality of Hérault, which includes La Grande Motte, said the city would be vigilant in protecting buildings associated with its Jewish community. The municipality also canceled a demonstration planned for Saturday in nearby Montpellier by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to mobilize economic and political pressure on Israel over its treatment of Palestinians. During France’s recent elections, the country’s left, particularly Jean-Luc Melénchon, the founder of France Unbowed, was accused of fanning antisemitism. After Saturday’s explosions, Mr. Melénchon described the attack as an “intolerable crime” and called on France to uphold principles of secularism. More

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      France Aligns With Morocco on Western Sahara, Angering Algeria

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      President Emmanuel Macron wrote to King Mohammed VI that France approved a plan for the disputed territory’s autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.France has backed a plan for the autonomy of the long-disputed Western Sahara territory under Moroccan sovereignty, a diplomatic shift that immediately provoked condemnation from Algeria, a former French colony and Morocco’s rival in the region.In a letter to King Mohammed VI of Morocco that was made public on Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron of France said that Morocco’s plan was “the only basis for achieving a just, lasting and negotiated political solution in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”That was a notable departure from France’s prior position. The French authorities previously argued that Morocco’s plan for autonomy, which was put forward in 2007, was a “serious and credible” basis for discussion, but not the only one.Excerpts from Mr. Macron’s letter, which were sent to the king on the 25th anniversary of his ascension of the throne, were made public on Tuesday by Mr. Macron’s office.“I consider that the present and the future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty,” Mr. Macron wrote.Western Sahara, once a Spanish colony, was annexed by Morocco in 1975, prompting a 16-year conflict with the Polisario Front, an independence movement representing the region’s Indigenous Sahrawi ethnic group. A United Nations-brokered cease-fire in 1991 was broken in late 2020, but the region has been stable recently.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Olympics Opening Ceremony Singer Redefines What It Means to Be French

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      Aya Nakamura, the French Malian singer, did more than open the Games. She redefined what it means to be French.A new France was consecrated Friday evening during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. When Aya Nakamura, a French Malian singer, came sashaying in a short fringed golden dress out of the august Académie Française, she redefined Frenchness.Adieu the stern edicts of the Académie, whose role has been to protect the French language from what one of its members once called “brainless Globish.” Bonjour to a France whose language is increasingly infused with expressions from its former African colonies that form the lyrical texture of Ms. Nakamura’s many blockbuster hits.France’s most popular singer at home and abroad gyrated as she strode forth over the Pont des Arts in her laced golden gladiator sandals. A Republican Guard band accompanied her slang-spiced lyrics. Her confidence bordered on insolence, as if to say, “This, too, is France.”Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, had said that Ms. Nakamura sings in “who knows what” language. But her denunciation of the performance on the grounds that it would “humiliate” the French people failed to stop it.The backdrop to the ceremony was a political and cultural crisis in France broadly pitting tradition against modernity and an open view of society against a closed one. The country is politically deadlocked and culturally fractured, unable to form a new government or agree on what precisely Frenchness should be.In this context, the thrust of the ceremony, as conceived by its artistic director, Thomas Jolly, was to push the boundaries of what it means to be French in an attempt to bolster a more inclusive France and a less divided world. It was a political act wrapped in a pulsating show.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Doused by Rain, Paris Opens Its Games With a Boat Party on the Seine

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      In a blaze of French style blending history and artistic audacity, the Paris Olympic Games opened beneath plumes of blue, white and red smoke, as thousands of athletes defied a downpour to sail through the city’s heart, down the Seine toward the Eiffel Tower.Steady rain and rising security concerns could not deter the athletes from more than 200 delegations. They laughed, they danced and they waved national flags, some from the decks of converted sightseeing boats, in a ceremony dedicated to the theme of togetherness to heal a divided France and a fractured world.Lady Gaga, emerging from behind pink puffballs in a black bustier, performed in French. Cabaret artists can-canned on the riverbanks. Aya Nakamura, a French-Malian singer whose presence was contested by the nationalist right, emerged from the august Académie Française, bastion of the French language, to offer her slang-spiced lyrics as she gyrated and stroked herself to the music of an impassive Republican Guard marching band.A new and diverse France confronted an old and traditional France. At a moment of sharp political confrontation that has left the country deadlocked, the ceremony was an invitation to think again about the meaning of the nation and the possibility of understanding. The Republican Guard relented at the last and tried some modest dance moves in their military uniforms to Ms. Nakamura’s massive hit “Djadja.”Team France during the opening ceremony.Jeremy White/The New York TimesThough a steady rain chased away many spectators before the ceremony was over, thousands stayed. Daniel Berehulak/The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Election Results in Europe Suggest Another Reason Biden Has to Go

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      There’s a dollop of good news for Democrats from the British and French elections, but it’s bad news for President Biden.The basic lesson is that liberals can win elections but perhaps not as incumbents. The election results abroad strike me as one more reason for Biden to perform the ultimate act of statesmanship and withdraw from the presidential race.The U.K. elections on July 4 resulted in a landslide for the Labour Party, ending the Conservative Party’s 14 years in power. Keir Starmer, the new Labour prime minister, achieved this result in part by moving to the center and even criticizing the Conservatives for being too lax on immigration. He projected quiet competence, promising in his first speech as Britain’s leader to end “the era of noisy performance.”But mostly, British voters supported Labour simply because they’re sick of Conservatives mucking up the government. The two main reasons voters backed Labour, according to one poll, were “to get the Tories out” and “the country needs a change.” A mere 5 percent said they backed Labour candidates because they “agree with their policies.”British voters were unhappy with Conservatives for some of the same reasons many Americans are unhappy with Biden. Prices are too high. Inequality is too great. Immigration seems unchecked. Officeholders are perceived as out of touch and beholden to elites. This sourness toward incumbents is seen throughout the industrialized world, from Canada to the Netherlands and Japan.Frustration with incumbents was also a theme in the French election, where President Emmanuel Macron made a bet similar to the one that Biden is making — that voters would come to their senses and support him over his rivals. Macron basically lost that bet, although the final result wasn’t as catastrophic as it might have been.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Lo que pasó en Francia es asombroso

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      La extrema derecha estaba a las puertas del poder.En la primera vuelta de las votaciones del 30 de junio, la Agrupación Nacional de Marine Le Pen quedó primera con un 33 por ciento de apoyo, ganando más de la mitad de las elecciones locales. Con la previsión de que el partido se quedara a las puertas de la mayoría absoluta, Francia se sumió en un frenesí de especulación y ansiedad. El principal candidato de la Agrupación Nacional, Jordan Bardella, de 28 años, insistió en que solo aceptaría ser primer ministro si contaba con el apoyo del Parlamento. Según los sondeos, parecía bien situado para exigir un mandato.Pero la segunda vuelta del domingo demostró que estaba equivocado. Bardella no solo quedó muy lejos de la oficina del primer ministro, sino que su partido quedó tercero, con 143 escaños. Aunque el número de escaños aumentó respecto al anterior, que era 89, está muy lejos de las predicciones de hace unos días. La coalición del presidente Emmanuel Macron, que se había quedado rezagada durante toda la corta campaña, desbarató las expectativas al quedar segunda, con 168 puestos. La mayor sorpresa fue quién quedó primero. El Nuevo Frente Popular, de izquierda, una coalición de cuatro partidos formada apresuradamente antes de estas elecciones, se erigió en la mayor fuerza, con 182 escaños.Es un resultado realmente asombroso. Mediante un impresionante acto de responsabilidad colectiva, se ha frenado a la extrema derecha. Pero Francia no se ha arreglado de repente. Como ningún grupo ha obtenido más de un tercio de los 577 escaños de la Asamblea Nacional, se avecinan problemas. La extrema derecha, aunque escarmentada, se encuentra en una posición más fuerte que nunca, al mando de una coalición electoral creciente y decentemente situada para las elecciones presidenciales de 2027. Pero Francia, gracias a la colaboración pragmática entre partidos y a la resistencia entusiasta de los votantes, ha obtenido una brillante prórroga.La cooperación entre los adversarios de la Agrupación Nacional fue fundamental para el cambio. Tras la primera vuelta, más de 200 candidatos del Nuevo Frente Popular y de la coalición de Macron se retiraron, lo que permitió a otros candidatos presentarse sin problemas. En lo que la líder de Los Verdes, Marine Tondelier, llamó un “nuevo frente republicano”, haciendo un guiño a la tradición de los votantes franceses de unirse para frustrar a la extrema derecha, se pidió a los votantes que apoyaran a quien pudiera derrotar al candidato de la Agrupación Nacional.Los electores, sobre todo los simpatizantes de la izquierda, respondieron al llamado. Según un sondeo, en los duelos en los que los aliados de Macron o los conservadores se enfrentaron a la Agrupación Nacional, siete de cada diez votantes de izquierda se decantaron por el candidato anti-Le Pen, y la mayoría de los demás se abstuvieron. El frente no tuvo tan buen desempeño en los duelos entre la izquierda y el partido de Le Pen: aproximadamente la mitad de los partidarios de Macron apoyaron a la izquierda, y uno de cada seis votó por la extrema derecha. El resultado, sin embargo, fue contundente. Escaño tras escaño, la fuerte posición de la extrema derecha no fue suficiente para superar a sus oponentes combinados.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Elecciones en Francia: 5 puntos clave de los resultados

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      Fue una jornada de sorpresas en el país europeo, con un inesperado triunfo de la izquierda, una extrema derecha muy por debajo de los pronósticos y la incógnita de quién será el próximo primer ministro.[Estamos en WhatsApp. Empieza a seguirnos ahora]De manera inesperada, los partidos de izquierda franceses se impusieron en las elecciones legislativas celebradas el domingo en todo el país, con lo que el partido nacionalista y antiinmigración Agrupación Nacional no obtuvo la mayoría en la cámara baja del Parlamento.Ningún partido, sin embargo, parecía con posibilidades de conseguir la mayoría absoluta, lo que deja a uno de los países más grandes de Europa encaminado a un marasmo político o a la inestabilidad.Los resultados, recopilados por The New York Times a partir de datos del Ministerio del Interior, confirman las proyecciones anteriores, según las cuales ningún partido o bloque obtendría la mayoría.Aquí presentamos cinco conclusiones de las elecciones.Gran sorpresa número 1Se produjeron dos grandes sorpresas en las elecciones anticipadas al Parlamento francés, ninguna de ellas prevista por expertos, encuestadoras o analistas.La mayor fue el triunfo de la izquierda: su coalición obtuvo 178 escaños y se convirtió en el principal bloque político del país. Fue la victoria más sorprendente de la izquierda francesa desde que François Mitterrand la sacó de la marginalidad de la posguerra, y ganó la presidencia como socialista en 1981.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More